Now another question. I have a free day Sunday, what lens should I go walking with?

No need to ask Mark, if you walk a town full of interesting people the 55 1.2, else the 28 2.8 for more landscapy images, or maybe the 105 2.5 to select an interesting section, perhaps any of the 85s to emphasize the focal plane. aternatively a 35 2.0 for normal street perspective...... Sure this was helpful.

It was. I've unpacked the 300mm. Of course now I have to buy a 35 f2 to follow your suggestion.

georgms wrote:
Peter, that's an excellent set! I like especially the "Gaura" and the "Bottlebrush". The colors are top-notch and the sharpness is really great.
Comparing these images to some of your older pictures I wonder if you have changed your post-processing (I favor your new contributions).
Anyway - beautiful work!

Get all three of the Nikon tubes: PK-11A, PK-12, and PK-13. Then you can choose what you need.
If you hunt around you can find them reasonably priced. Curtis has found non-Nikon tubes that work great as well.

- John

ZicharRegistered: May 13, 2009Total Posts: 3674Country: Singapore

Love the flowers Peter!
I'm seriously bushed, woke up early to go cycling the trails in an offshore island, together with Anton
Managed to squeeze in a few shots of course Here's one with the 45PCE
An unexpected find deep in the jungle?

CGrindahl wrote:
One more macro shot with the 105 f/1.8 AI-s with two tubes. I love doing this kind of work.

The focal plane is so narrow when shooting with tubes that finding focus by turning the focusing ring is impossible. In fact, using the green light is impractical so I relied on the viewfinder to tell me when the image was in focus. I gently rock back and forth until I get what I want and then trip the shutter. It works...

Stunning image Curtis!

saphRegistered: Jun 10, 2012Total Posts: 2896Country: United States

Peter, wonderful closeups of those bright, colorful flowers.

Georg, the reflections of the buildings with the 24 f2 are very pleasant to look at. No sun here still, and still a few weeks before spring and flowers

Portrait with the 135 f2 AI. Wide open at 1/250s, ISO 640, taken from about 5 feet.

This lens at f2 is supposed to be softer at closer distances to make it more portrait-friendly. The 270 degrees focus throw that Curtis pointed out is very evident and would be terrific for macros. One side effect I noticed is that the green dot stays for quite a few degrees of turn.

Putting on the adjuvant hat I see the 135 f2 and the 105 f1.8 to be smaller and **much** more affordable brothers to the modern 200 f2 VR.

asiostygiusRegistered: Nov 29, 2011Total Posts: 2884Country: Brazil

CGrindahl wrote:Ronny _Olsson wrote:
Wow.. great shot curtis

What tubes should I have?
thinking of getting some to 135mm
works they also 180mm?
Thinking of getting someone to zeiss with so I get 1:1 on 100 MP
As I understand, I should have the Nikon PN-11 to 1:1 at 100 MP?

I love using tubes with all my lenses. The 180 and 135 will be very happy with tubes. You will wish to experiment to see what length tube satisfies you. Yes, the PN-11 is the tube that brings the 105 f/2.8 AI-s micro lens to 1:1 so it should get you pretty close with the Zeiss lens.

You should be aware, if you're not already, that with extension tubes you lose infinity focus. A dedicated macro lens doesn't hinder you in that regard. The advantage of tubes is that they can be used with any lens and will significantly reduce the minimum focusing distance. But the tradeoff is you will have a very short range within which you can find focus. This is one reason why AI lenses that tend to have a longer focus throw are attractive lenses when shooting with tubes. Of course, the two lenses your considering, the 135 f/2 and 180 f/2.8 have decent throws at 270 degrees and 190 degrees respectively. I don't know the focusing throw of the Zeiss 100 but the time I used one that belongs to a friend it seemed quite a bit shorter.

Of course, this limitation can be overcome simply by moving closer and farther away from the subject you're shooting. This is what I refer to when I say I rock back and forth as I set up a shot. I virtually never use the focusing ring because even turning the ring can cause me to lose focus.

Here is another shot from today, this taken with the 105 f/2.5 P AI'd with the PK-11a and PK-12. I'm less interested in 1:1 than in having enough working room to get a decent shot.

If you're planning to use tubes with Zeiss lenses, you may wish to consider Kenko tubes that will allow the camera and lens to communicate. Nikon tubes will not do so. They were created for manual focus lenses that did not have electrical contacts.

Another jaw dropping capture!!!!!!!!!
I have to experiment more with tubes!

asiostygiusRegistered: Nov 29, 2011Total Posts: 2884Country: Brazil

Oosty wrote:
Hard to believe it's March already!

Following Curtis' lead I went out with the PN-11 and the 80-200 f4 ai-s and took these in the garden.

Peter, great images with 80-200/4 + PN-11.
Liked the colours on this one.

This zoom is pretty good from f/5.6 to f/11, peak at f/8-11.
At f/3.5 - 4 borders at FX (D600) are soft.
Bought it cheap (< USD 150.00 including shipping to Brazil - thank you Chuong!!)

It would be perfectly matched with a 50-135 or 75-150 for travel light.

mp356Registered: May 31, 2009Total Posts: 4880Country: United States

leighton w wrote:
Love it Chin, looks like a Tonka toy!

+1 Chin. It definately looks like a small toy in a deep lawn of grass.

mp356Registered: May 31, 2009Total Posts: 4880Country: United States

asiostygius wrote:CGrindahl wrote:
One more macro shot with the 105 f/1.8 AI-s with two tubes. I love doing this kind of work.

The focal plane is so narrow when shooting with tubes that finding focus by turning the focusing ring is impossible. In fact, using the green light is impractical so I relied on the viewfinder to tell me when the image was in focus. I gently rock back and forth until I get what I want and then trip the shutter. It works...

Stunning image Curtis!

Very nice Curtis. Wonderful colors and detail.

mp356Registered: May 31, 2009Total Posts: 4880Country: United States

asiostygius wrote:
First test shots of the newly arrived 28-50mm f/3.5 ais on my preferred "test chart" at infinity, already becoming boring but at least not so boring as a real test chart